Here are five things to watch as the Mets and Philadelphia Phillies play a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park starting on Friday night…
1. VogelBACK?
It’s been a bit of a slow start to the season for Mets designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach.
Buck Showalter and his staff decided it was time to give him a week-long break recently, and so far, it’s been paying dividends.
Vogelbach put together a 3-for-5 performance with a double and three RBI in the series finale against the Astros on Wednesday afternoon.
Since returning to the lineup last week against the Cardinals, he’s now 7-for-16 with a double, two homers, seven RBI, and a 1.433 OPS.
Vogelbach has been showing a much more aggressive approach at the plate and is hitting the ball in the air more. That’s the type of production the Mets are hoping for from him out of the DH spot.
He’ll likely have the day off against lefty Christopher Sanchez in the series opener, but with two more righties after that, Vogelbach will look to stay hot in the hitter-friendly confines of Citizens Bank.
2. Will Lindor stay hot?
Vogelbach isn’t the only Met who has been turning things around of late. After a bit of a rough stretch at the plate, Francisco Lindor is finally beginning to look like himself again.
Lindor homered for the second consecutive game and drove in five runs during the series opener in Houston on Monday. He then reached base four times (a double and three walks) and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the series finale on Wednesday.
Overall, Lindor’s hitting .263 with a .407 OBP, 1.144 OPS, two homers, five walks, and eight RBI over his last seven games.
While Lindor hasn’t been putting up the All-Star numbers expected in some departments, he has remained a consistent run producer in the middle of the Mets lineup.
Lindor is currently tied for the most home runs among shortstops in baseball with 14. He also leads the position with 43 runs scored and 51 RBI, which is currently tied for the third most in the National League.
Who knows if it’s the new haircut, the new dad vibes, or just a string of good games for Lindor. Whatever it is, though, the Mets certainly are hoping he can keep it up moving forward.
3. Can Senga find some consistency?
It’s been an up-and-down first season in New York for Kodai Senga. He’s looked absolutely unhittable at times, but has also struggled throughout his first year in the majors.
Through 13 starts, Senga’s posted a 3.53 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and 87 strikeouts. His K-rate (28.3) and whiff rate (30.0) are hovering around the 80th percentile in baseball. His walk rate (13.4), on the other hand, is in just the eighth percentile.
In his last start against the Cardinals, the righty allowed four runs on five hits while striking out eight over 6.2 innings. He issued just one walk but threw a pair of wild pitches, hit a batter, and allowed two homers.
When he faced the Phillies back on May 30 at Citi Field, he put together his best outing of his young MLB career. Senga allowed just one baserunner, a bloop single, and struck out nine over seven shutout innings.
He’ll look to put together a repeat of that performance now on the road against a different looking Phillies team.
4. The Phils are red hot
On that note, the Phillies have been one of the hottest teams in baseball since being swept by the Mets in that three-game series earlier this month.
They’ve jumped up to third place in the NL East and are just two games out of a Wild Card spot. They’re coming off a series loss to the Braves, but were riding a six-game winning streak heading into this week.
The Phils beat up on some bad teams in Oakland, Washington, and Detroit, but also recorded impressive series wins over the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.
Leading the charge for their offense has been Kyle Schwarber.
The slugger has already gone deep seven times in June to go along with two doubles, a triple, 14 RBI, and a .987 OPS.
Schwarber was struggling mightily the last time they faced him, so they were able to keep him at bay. This time might be a different story, as he looks comfortable in the box and has settled back into a groove.
This series definitely isn’t going to be as easy as the last time the Mets faced the Phillies.
5. Can Alonso get back into a groove?
Pete Alonso has been pressing a bit at the plate since returning from the injured list.
Alonso was expected to miss 3-4 weeks after being hit on the wrist by a 97 mph Charlie Morton fastball, but he returned after missing just 10 days with a bone bruise and a sprain of the left wrist.
Since coming back Sunday against the Cardinals, the slugger has just two hits while striking out seven times across four games.
One of those hits was a homer, but other than that, Alonso has been taking some poor at-bats. He’s been expanding the strike zone way too much and over-swinging often.
Even so, Alonso is up to an NL leading 23 homers and 51 RBI, tied for third with Lindor. He was on a great run prior to the injury, putting up nine home runs, 18 RBI, and a .940 OPS over his last 20 games.
Alonso will look to settle back into one of those grooves this weekend in Philly, where he’s homered seven times in his career.